I did not care too much that I could not use the game as medical advise, I was just happy I was going to be able cut people open and play with their organs. Who wouldn't want to fish around in someones abdomen? Of course, it would never be that easy. Starting the game up, I created my medical professional. The game forced me to go through a mock sign-in with the nurse sitting in reception, eventually selecting the difficulty and various settings through the intercom system.

Eventually I would be forced to take patients. Nearly everyone was the same, complaining of almost identical symptoms (usually flu like, combined with abdominal pain). The majority of the important information about a patient did not come from their list of symptoms, but from the physical exam. Clicking on the patent presented me with a bare mid-rift, extending from just above the navel just just below the pelvis. This was all completely PG, even for a budding preteen. Pain in various areas was accompanied by various sampled clips of people moaning, signifying which illness they may or may not have.

Most of the time it was gas, bacterial infections or kidney stones. While all very fun diseases, they did not really require much except a pat on the head and a check in a box. Diagnose gas, medicate infections, and refer kidney stones. Simple. Eventually, the game threw a curve ball. The patient seemed to have kidney stones, but nothing showed up on the x-ray. This means appendicitis, and my first surgery.

I would first like to start off with saying I apologize to the families of all the virtual people that I operated on. Not once did I successfully remove an appendix, or even get inside the abdominal cavity without my patient dying in a horribly bloody fashion. Life & Death was hailed for it's realism, and it was probably as close as I will ever get to performing surgery on a real person. Each step of the surgery requires players to make split-second decisions to keep your patient alive during the course of the operation. One false move, and they are flat-lining.

After each surgical misstep, I was sent back to medical school. The game tells you everything you have done wrong, and how to do better the next time. Reading the manual helped considerably. I unfortunately never got to do the aortic valve replacement, the most advanced surgery in the game, for messing with the heart is reserved for only the most advanced players.

Life & Death is a prime example of edutainment done right. The game has no gimmicks, nor does it try to be cute or funny. You simply play the role of a doctor, and you might learn a little bit about medicine along the way. Just remember, simply because you can remove an appendix with a mouse does not mean you should do it with a scalpel.